This blog describes my journey as a Foreign Service officer, wife of another FSO and a mom to a boisterous, loving boy.We began our careers with the State Department in 2010/2011 and first served in amazing Bangladesh, followed by fabulous Rio de Janeiro. We are currently serving in Washington, DC. Our lives are a pleasant circus and we cannot believe just how lucky we are to live our dreams.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Laos, Secretary Clinton and the Latino Ball

So, I was going to devote my next post entirely to Laos and
how fabulous it is, but then some other rather exciting things happened in the
meantime and so all Laos gets is 2 sentences. There it goes: Laos is fantastic –
calm, clean, excellent cuisine, still largely unspoiled by tourists, wonderful smiling
people. While Vientiane was a tad underwhelming (couple of fabulous Wats
notwithstanding), Luang Prabang delivered and how – gorgeous multiple Wats,
excellent restaurants perched on the river, elephant rides and water baths,
monkey jumping from a rope into a crystal blue mountain waterfall, and cooler
air. Yes, we loved Luang Prabang, it was a great end to a fabulous trip. On the
way back on the wings of Bangkok Air, we had a 6 hour layover in Bangkok, which
we used to snag a dinner at HardRock Café downtown. Don’t judge, people, don't you judge! After 10
months in South Asia, one craves a smidgeon of home food and atmosphere, even
if the local food is amazing.

As we were dining peacefully in HardRock on some potato
skins and massive beer, I all of a sudden read in the news that my boss,
Secretary Clinton, is coming to town. As Elmo would say - Oh boy!! This was my first time
experiencing a major Washington visit at an embassy and let me tell you – it was
an eye opener on some many different levels! At the State Department, we have
funny abbreviations like POTUS (President of the United States), FLOTUS (???)
(First Lady), S for Secretary, CODEL for a congressional delegation, and so on.
Oh yeah, we have a great sense of humor in DOS! So, S’s visit to Bangladesh was
for only 22 hours and she wanted to meet the Prime Minister, the Foreign
Minister, the opposition leader, the civil society leaders, the youth and the
embassy community. In 22 hours, people - the lady is amazing! Phew! And we had to make it happen with
less than a week to prep. You have no idea what this entails until you become
part of the circus.

First, an advance team comes from Washington – apart from
the security detail, the sniffing dogs, a bunch of other guys whose function
still remains a mystery to me, there are also several foreign service officers
who come in advance and help plan the dance with the embassy. Apart from
serving overseas, our career also brings us back to serve in the U.S. There are
generally 2 types of jobs – analytical (say, desk officer for a country or some
other functional position, like human rights for Africa) and the action – packed
“7th” floor job. The 7th floor in the Department of State
is where S office and her immediate staff preside. To work there is, to say the
least, rather prestigious. Among some of the support roles for the 7th
floor are the Operations Center (provides 24 hours communications and crisis
management support to all of us) and the so-called “Line” (S’s travel team, of
which the advance team is a part). I have never seen such an efficient, fast and
furious machine unfold itself within such a short period of time. Every day we
had countdown meetings, where Secretary Clinton’s every step was planned literally
in 1-minute increments. Roles were being assigned, more and more people roped
in every hour or so and by the end, most warm bodies in the Embassy had some
function in the visit, even if they were to supervise luggage or sell candy in
the hotel operations room. I got to babysit the local press for some of the
meetings. Which was cool because it meant that I will get to see S at least 2
times if not more, while some of the worker bees on the visit never even got to
see her. After all was said and done, the Secretary left swiftly and somehow
magically all the staff and equipment disappeared within the next 24 hours like
they have never even set foot in Dhaka. One day, when I grow up, I want to work
“on the line”!

The visit required both me and the Diplomat to work all
weekend. One of my meetings was at the American Club, which meant that on a hot
Friday afternoon I had to go there, fully clad in a suit while the poolside was
filled with happy screaming kids and parents, gleefully jumping in and out of
the cool water. Son was at home with his babysitter. All weekend long. I came
home at 11 pm that night and had to leave at 6 am the next morning. I didn’t see
him most of the weekend, which made me feel incredibly guilty – it is so easy
to feel like you are a bad mom. But the truth is, this happens. It happens in almost
every job - there are late nights, overnight trips, moments and hours when you
just want to be alone and not be engaged 100% with your child. And so it is ok.
It happens much less for those working in consular positions, but if you are a public
diplomacy, political, econ or even management officer, late nights and weekends
are par for the course – whether it is a gallery opening for Cultural Affairs,
or a pesky late night cable for Political after a long and possibly fruitless
meeting with some governmental official, or preparing for yet another CODEL
(congressional delegation) for Management. Being a Foreign Service officer is a
fabulous job but it comes with its own baggage. I still want to work on the
line. And be a FSO. I LOVE my job!

And now here is my stupid moment of the S visit. Secretary Clinton
had breakfast at the ambassador’s house along with two of the most prominent Bangladeshi
civil society leaders. I was managing the press at the event which was staying
in a side room, facing the guest bathroom. When it was about time for her to leave,
she apparently went to the restroom (which I did not notice). At the same time,
I decided to lean on the door of the press holding room and see if I can hear
whether the meeting nearing its end. At that precise moment, the Secretary came
out of the restroom, looked at me, smiled widely and said, “Thank you!” (for
the great logistical support, I suppose). I was so surprised to see her so
close face to face that the only thing I could blurt out was another, “Umm, thank
you!” Literally 30 seconds later much more intellectual and engaging things to
say came to my mind, like “It was great having you here, Mdm. Secretary!” or “We
are so excited to have you here!” or even “Your hair sure looks nice today! (it
did).” Instead, I just stood there smiling inanely – she nodded politely and
left. Sigh….

The following Friday we all let loose at the Latino Ball. You
should see the Diplomat and me dancing – it is a vision…Suffice it to say that
he not a natural born dancer, while I am quite deft at the dance floor. One
thing I’ll say – the poor man at least obliges me. So, when we dance, most of
my time is spent hissing in his ears his moves while he tries to decipher what
in the world he is supposed to be doing. The result is potentially comical. But
at least we are on the dance floor! Some husbands won’t even make it to the
Ball. Shame on them! Dance, husbands, dance!

1 comment:

A very interesting but very guarded narrative account of the visit which you only can provide! Missing the chance for responding in the way you thought later on due to building up of inner stress and you did still a reasonably good job a polite response i.e.thanking her for her gesture of thanks! be sure and assured that all husbands do dance, not necessarily on the dance floor but at so many places within the residence and you know by now according to whose tunes(HMV)! I am sure you will rise to become the most wanted in the DOS soon, my prayers and blessings are there for it!

Followers

About Me

I am a corporate lawyer turned mommy, diplomat and, at times, stay at home wife. I used to live in NYC with the Diplomat and Son (born in September 2008), and then in 2010 we moved to Washington, DC so that my husband and I can begin our tandem career with the State Department. I love martinis, single-malt scotch, high-heeled shoes, little black dresses, good cigars, exotic travel and the general good life. Being a mommy, while awesome, is tough but I fight the good fight to preserve my “cool NYer” every day, one martini at a time. Am I a good mom? Abso-freaking-lutely!